I stirred up quite the sand when I landed in Oregon's high desert. I looked around and tried to sense someone, but I came up with nothing. It could just be because they hadn't arrived yet, but I doubted that since they seemed to be able to teleport. So, distance shouldn't affect the time they would need to arrive.
It also might just be that they waited somewhere else while hiding themselves with magic. This desert was a big place. It wouldn't surprise me if I had missed her. I could just wait here for them to arrive, but I might as well take a walk and look around.
Just as I was about to walk around and search for the spawn of Trigon, a lifeforce suddenly appeared behind me. Without hesitation, I jumped up and turned around only to see a familiar sight of a person in a dark violet almost black cloak.
I could only see the lower half of her face and her eyes that were shining through the shadow that her hood had cast on her face's upper half, which should have been impossible. I had an extraordinary vision so the darkness keeping her face secret had to be magical.
Her body was covered with the long cloak, so I couldn't tell how she was built, but I still was able to recognize her as Raven. From her lifeforce, I also sensed that she was somewhat formidable. Even without counting her immense magical power that I knew she had, she had most humans beat.
She stared at me for a second before I finally got the cue and lowered myself back to the ground. She followed my movements with her eyes and waited until I finally reached the ground.
"You know, you scared the shit out of me." I said as I landed in front of her. She didn't respond and just stared at me for a moment.
"Why do you know me?" Why did she know that I knew her? ...Ah, right she was an empath. Almost forgot about that part. She was probably sensing my nostalgia. Instinctively I wanted to close my emotions off, but I was sure that wouldn't come off as exactly trustworthy.
"I had met one of your kind already." She narrowed her eyes at that.
"You mean the attack on Portland. I had sensed that Trigon's minions had been active, but I am not like them. I-"
Her tone could indeed be said to be monotone which was what I had expected, but as she talked I could hear how scared and desperate she was to explain herself to be different than her fellow demons.
"You are a child of Trigon, right? Yeah, I heard that demon's son was there at the beginning of the fight. He seemed to have betrayed two magicians that wanted to help him..."
She wasn't as grounded and collected as I remembered her to be, but that was something understandable considering the circumstances.
Her lips thinned and I could see her cloak tremble slightly. She looked at me for a few moments seemingly looking for something.
When she didn't find it she sighed out in relief before readying herself to speak out as she took a deep breath. I could see how her eyes changed slightly to be more determined as she seemed to have made up her mind. Her desperation fueled her thirst for action.
Although I wasn't as good an empath as she was, I could still clearly sense what she was feeling. If it wasn't for her sensing my emotions, inevitably creating a connection with me, I wouldn't have caught onto hers.
"I-I want to join your team. I had seen how you fought against them. Trigon will not stop until he got what he wants... and I want to help to fight him." Her voice reflected her feelings of determination, but also her fragile hope.
After she had witnessed how we had received her plea in the Watchtower, it was to be expected that she wasn't too hopeful in joining the Justice League, but even with that in mind, I could tell that when she said that she wanted to fight her father, it wasn't said willy-nilly.
Her mind was set on it. She wanted to turn her fate around and I had the feeling even If I refused her that she would create her own team that could help her fight against her father. Considering that she was meant to be a member of the Teen Titans, I wouldn't be surprised if she would be the one to create the team.
"I am afraid, this will be impossible." I responded. Her jaw clenched when she heard this. Before she could respond or vanish on the spot I continued, "The other members of the League won't trust you, especially with the magical expert on the team advocating in straight out banishing you."
The more I spoke the paler she got, hearing this was slowly extinguishing her last bit of hope that she had held onto. It probably had only survived this long because I had invited her here in the first place, but this was something she needed to hear, to know what might happen if she decided to press the issue with the Justice League.
"Although they might be willing to help you with a bit convincing, it would destroy the team dynamic and they wouldn't put their all in it, especially since they don't know you and the history they have with Trigon's son..."
"His son doesn't have anything to do with me!" Her voice was shaky but it wasn't just desperation, she was angry about being judged by the actions of her siblings.
"A family member of our magic expert was attacked by his enemies. The Justice League... They aren't eager for a conversation either with that bias and their attitude it will be hard to gain their trust if you are able to gain their trust at all.
What I feel like they would do is to invite you to have you around and observe you as a lab rat. Zatara might even try to lock you straight away.
You would be under constant observation and I don't think that is what you had in mind when you came to us for our help. Of course, you can still give it a shot and ask them for help in another place that isn't our headquarters and when they aren't as exhausted as they were just now, but currently I don't think you have a great chance at convincing them."
She trembled as she heard what I had to say. I wasn't lying to her and I think she could tell that her chances for help with the League were almost nil.
I also didn't see her as a great fit in the Justice League, to begin with, especially with Zatara and Batman around. These two would be constantly suspicious of her and since she was an empath sensing their emotions, it might run her thin. I wasn't sure if they could get along well. The others I wasn't so sure, it could go either way, but she would most likely still feel like an outsider.
Considering that her powers reacted to her emotions, it wouldn't be wise to expose her to this kind of stress and distrust.
Her eyes were looking at the ground as she thought. I let her be and waited for her to come to a conclusion on her own. I was caught off guard when her eyes suddenly shot to me.
Her slight trembling had stopped as she came to realize that the Justice League most likely won't help her, but instead of despairing further, it was replaced with realization. I was still standing before her after all.
"Why did you want to meet me here then?" Her gaze bore into me as her cloak was waving slightly despite no breeze around us.
"Of course, to accept your call for help." I answered nonchalantly.
"Why are you willing to help me? They destroyed Your city. You were one of the ones that fought them." I grimaced slightly at that, remembering something that I rather didn't, but it was obvious why she had brought it up. In her eyes, I should be the one that should trust her the least, but I didn't.
It was easy for me since I had knowledge of what she could be. So with my knowledge and my gut feeling, I couldn't help but want to help her. I certainly couldn't abandon her and let her fend for her own.
"...You experienced loss...so why...?" Her words grew quiet in the end. I looked at her for a moment as I tried to gather myself again.
I had only glanced over her appearance, only confirming that I was seeing her in real life and not on my monitor. Too occupied with our conversation and how she reacted that I hadn't noticed her state until now.
There was a hint of a scratch on her right cheek and the bottom of her cloak was dirty like she had dragged them through the mud. There were dirty stains all over on her cloak. She wasn't smelling great either. Not to mention that her presence was more akin to someone that would be deeply exhausted instead of the strong woman she tried to portray.
Now that I noticed these signs even the exhaustion in her eyes was apparent, even though not an ounce of it was leaking through into her emotions. I suspected that she was just used to keep going, to keep pushing and ignoring her limits that it didn't mirror itself in her emotions anymore.
I started to speak as I gazed into her eyes, "I usually go with my guts and you gave me a good feeling, so I decided to accept your call for help."
Her eyes widened before she asked in a disbelieving tone, "You followed your guts?"
"Yeah?"
"That's it?"
"Yep." Although it wasn't the entire truth, I wasn't about to reveal that I knew this universe because of some cartoon I had watched in my past life. Not even bothering about whether she would believe me or not, it was sensitive information that might ruin the trust with a few people that I had built up, causing them to question any and every interaction with me.
Besides following my gut was the main contributor in deciding to help her. Although I knew that she might become a hero, there was still the possibility of this version of her turning evil or something.
Her head lowered at my response as she looked at the ground before she suddenly started giggling slightly. She wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes. I didn't know if they were tears of laughter or because she was relieved, but I did know that her laughter released a lot of tension in her body.
She then reached to the sides of her hood and lifted it off, revealing her face and the red crystal on her forehead.
"Ah, I am sorry... I haven't introduced myself yet. I am called Raven."
I smiled at the sight and approached her to shake her hand, "Nice to meet you. I go with Shallot or Nathan. Either is fine." I grimaced slightly after standing right in front of her, "You look like you need a good night's sleep, and not to be rude, but you need a shower as well. If you want to you can rest at my place for now. It's not far from here."
Her expression froze before she sniffed at her cloak only to wrinkle her nose in disgust. She began to refuse, but she stopped herself before reluctantly accepting my offer.
"Thank you." She mumbled before we rose from the ground.
I took the lead before I noticed that her lifeforce was suddenly plummeting to the ground. I looked back and quickly reached her. I gently caught her and checked on her, finding her unconscious.
Seemed like she needed the rest more than I thought. With that in mind, I headed to my place. A frown found itself on my face when I thought about her situation. I probably shouldn't change her clothes right? But she smells really bad and her cloak would ruin my bed...
...
She woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. She could feel the sunshine on her face and she couldn't help but relax for a moment. But since Raven wasn't tired anymore and she wanted to know where she ended up in she started to sit up.
She reached behind her to her shoulders and found that her hood wasn't there. She looked around and saw it folded on the dresser next to a towel, shampoo, and some other clothes.
She looked down at what she was wearing, a simple shirt and shorts that were slightly too big for her. Her previous clothes that she had taken off a random clothing line were nowhere to be found. She didn't feel the loss since they were already falling apart and she had wanted to replace them long ago.
Raven then remembered meeting Portland's superhero and their conversation as well as the last piece of conversation about her taking a shower...
She seemed to have been roughly clean but it was nowhere near enough for her. She was still smelt badly, not to mention her hair was all oily. She got up and took the towel, shampoo, and the other clothes off the dresser and peeked into a door on the side, which luckily revealed a shower.
After cleaning herself she put on the clothes that Shallot had to have bought for her. It was a simple set with jeans, a T-Shirt, and some underwear that she was grateful for. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of such an intimidating man entering a store to buy some women's clothes.
In the next moment, her face flushed slightly, remembering that someone had to have cleaned her and it should be obvious who had done it...
When they had met before she fell unconscious she was initially incredibly cautious of him. His body was just radiating danger and his gaze was intense. If she had sensed any hostility she would have bolted straight away.
However, instead of showing any hostility, he stayed mellow. He even seemed a bit excited and happy to see her which had confused her initially. She winced slightly when she thought about how she had reminded him about his loss. She hated that feeling of sadness and guilt.
After stepping out of the shower, now refreshed and inside new clothes, she felt like she had just been reborn. She took her cleaned cloak and draped it across her shoulder before making her way downstairs where she could hear someone snoring.
She entered what seemed to be the living room and found the man half-naked lying across the couch. He was almost falling out of it due to his lying position.
She sensed his mind and found him to be deeply in sleep like he had fallen asleep only an hour ago. He seemed unconcerned of any potential danger she could have posed, which reminded her that he had taken her in because of his gut feeling.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one hand that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but on the other, it seemed to be working for him...
Her gaze wandered across his body, noting the difference in physique compared to the older people of Azarath. The deep breath Shallot suddenly took made her think that she had woken him up, but when she observed his face and sensed no fluctuation in his mind he was still asleep, smacking his lips for good measure.
Her hand had subconsciously risen and was tracing the contour of his muscles. She noted the numerous scars all over his body, strangely adding to the attractiveness of his figure. It was clear that he was an experienced fighter. There were even some new wounds that were clearly not older than a few hours.
It was almost hypnotizing how his chest rose and sank with each breath like the high and low tide. As she continued to look at him, it seemed like he was growing stronger in his sleep while his wounds healed at a visible rate. She felt relieved seeing the signs of strength that his body seemed to hide. He would be able to go against her father, she thought.
She froze up as she realized what she was doing and retracted her hand that was touching his chest. She reminded herself that she shouldn't trust him this easily. One thing that her escape had taught her was to be on her toes. One couldn't judge one character only after a day of meeting them.
She had to be cautious to draw conclusions too early even though she desperately sought a place where she could stop moving, where she could relax knowing that she was safe, where she would find her new home.
Still, Nathan was a hero that had fought back her kind and readily accepted to help her despite his experience.
Her line of thought was interrupted when her stomach suddenly started to growl loudly, it was so loud that she thought that it had to have woken him up for sure, but when she looked at his sleeping figure, she couldn't help but feel glad that he hadn't witnessed it.
She turned around and saw two gigantic fridges in the open kitchen. For just a moment she wondered who needed this much room for food. Did he live with someone else? She quietly opened both fridges and found both to carry similar foods.
It's fine, right? He didn't say that she could just serve herself, but he wouldn't mind, right? She would just replace it at a later date. She wasn't one to just rummage around someone's fridge, but she had to eat something. She had gone without eating for days now and even with that restful sleep, she still felt weak.
With that in mind, she searched for something that she could eat. There were several Tupperware with food inside. There were only three types of meals. She took one out at random since they seemed to be pretty much all rice, vegetables, and some sort of meat.
She took one out and opened a microwave and placed it inside before wondering how to use it. It wasn't a standard one as it was several times bigger than the one she had previously used, but just as she was about to press any button at random, a hand covered in a white glove entered her field of view and pressed two buttons causing it to turn on and rotate in a familiar manner.
"Look at that. The sleeping beauty is finally awake." Raven stepped back, internally shocked at the sudden appearance of the red-haired woman. She felt embarrassed how she had been too occupied thinking about eating that she didn't notice this woman sneaking up on her.
Raven looked at her and found that the armor this woman had worn, had served its purpose. Chunks of her armor were broken and even burned off. She had bruises and cuts all over her exposed skin and her hair was a mess like someone had purposely ruined it and then sloppily fixed it again.
Surprisingly it didn't reduce the dignity with which the woman moved as she moved towards the sink to wash her hands. After turning off the tap, she turned around and dried her hands as she looked at the defensive Raven.
"I am Maxima, Queen of Almerac." Maxima said as she raised an eyebrow at the young woman in front of her.
"Nice to meet you..." Raven's monotone voice sounded out.
"It would be a lie to say the same, after all, I had to clean you like I was a servant woman. Well, at least he had called me to visit because of you, so... you are forgiven."
She had assumed that Nathan had cleaned her, but it seemed like he had called upon this woman to do it. Somehow she felt more irked about the fact that a stranger had handled her, even though Nathan was a stranger too, he at least was a public acknowledged hero, which couldn't be said about this woman.
"...Thanks, your highness." Maxima looked smug about Raven's sarcastic thanks, but Raven wasn't to correct her misinterpretation. Of course, she wasn't completely dishonest in her thanks, she wouldn't completely disregard that she had taken care of her.
The women's clothes that she wore, had to be from her then as well or rather bought by her. She doubted that this dignified woman was the one that wore the clothes she had on right now. Not because of the cute motive on the pants, but because they seemed to be for a slightly shorter woman.
The two looked at each other in silence until the microwave dinged. Suddenly Maxima turned around opened it and handed it to Raven.
"Here you go. Eat up and rest well. Although I am not a nurse, I can see when a warrior had been pushed far beyond their limits."
Raven accepted the meal wordlessly, wondering how she could be described to be a warrior, but she wouldn't argue with someone clearly trying to compliment her.
"Thank you." This time being more genuine with her expression of gratitude.
"Hey, you." The deep voice behind her suddenly sounded out making her flinch while letting her darkness coil around her hands ready to be released immediately if necessary as she turned her body to look behind her.
"You're finally awake." Shallot said completely ignoring the younger woman with her powers ready to fire at him and the other leaning against the counter.
He pulled out several other Tupperwares while a cupboard shelf opened up by itself letting a knife and fork float out of it and towards Raven.
"Here you go. If you need something else just take what you want." Nathan invitingly said to her. However, her focus was somewhere else. Telekinetic power.
It wasn't well known that the hero possessed this power, at least she hadn't read about it, maybe because it was paling against his other outrageous powers. Telekinetic power meant that he was most likely possessing other psychic powers as well, which meant that her brashly reading his emotions was more than just rude.
She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, decided against shutting off her empathic powers. She had relied on them to detect any malice towards her, and since Nathan hadn't said anything, she would continue using them even though it was somewhat cumbersome to have it constantly active while directing it at the people around her. Maybe if this place proved itself safe, she would relax even more.
She felt embarrassed and guilty at how suspicious she was at someone that had readily accepted to help her, but she couldn't bring herself to completely trust him. The least thing she could do was get to know him first.
Raven composed herself again before looking at the young hero who seemed very nonchalant about having a demon's daughter freely walking around in his house, "Are you- how old are you?" Feeling awkward about her random question.
He seemed surprised by the question before looking blankly ahead as if he had to calculate his birthday, "I should be 18 already."
"Should...? I am 17."
"Cool?" He put one of his Tupperware into the microwave as he responded with a questioning tone.
"I hope Maxima wasn't too in your face for having to clean you."
"Urgh-" Raven glanced at Maxima who made a weird noise as if she had just been kicked in the chest. Maxima then looked at her anxiously. Raven could feel her worry radiating from her.
"No. Your girlfriend had only been nice to me." She said not wanting to incite a conflict between the two, however, it seemed like she set off something else as she looked at the expression of the two people in front of her.
Maxima felt hopeful, excited, and possessive as soon as she cast her eyes towards Nathan, who looked somewhat uncomfortable. Nathan looked at Raven confused while feeling something akin to helplessness.
"Hubby!" Maxima shouted as she jumped towards Nathan with open arms.
"Nope." He said while raising his hand, conjuring up a psychic wall in front of Maxima letting her slam into it midair.
"She is not my girlfriend." He sighed before moving towards the couch on which he had slept. Maxima looked at him pouting slightly as she slid back to the ground. She promptly stood up and stomped on the ground, denting the ground in the process before she pressed something on her wrist.
"Hmph!"
A portal suddenly appeared behind her and she disappeared into it. It seemed like Raven ran right into that one, probably inciting an old argument. She had sensed that the two liked each other, but it was clear that Maxima was the one that felt more strongly towards Nathan.
She realized that it might be unreciprocated love or at least something similar. She understood why Nathan might not want to be with her. Maxima's first reaction to being mistaken as his girlfriend was somewhat off-putting with her feelings of possessiveness like he was a price to be won over. Not to mention that Maxima came on rather strong because of something a third-party said.
She followed him to the couch while uttering her apology. She had just blurted it out without thinking too much of it. She had just assumed that Maxima had lived here as his girlfriend.
He waved her off nonchalantly telling her not to worry about her. He only reminded her not to mention it again otherwise the act would repeat itself, which she took to heart. She awkwardly sat down on a chair next to the sofa.
They sat in silence as Nathan watched a show about a boy with a black hat wanting to be a pirate king or something. After a while, she remembered something, "When I came to the desert I hadn't brought anything with me. There are somethings that I had left behind at a valley-"
Before she announced that she would be gone to retrieve her stuff, Nathan blurred away before returning with his blue armor on. She looked at the armor revealing his upper arms, wondering if it weren't better to have his entire arms covered in armor, but she couldn't really talk since she didn't wear any armor at all.
"Alright, I am coming with you."
"I am just going to retrieve some of my stuff. You don't have to-" He cut her off before she could finish her sentence while tightening his vambrace.
"You are not going alone into a valley. Since you are now under my protection, I am not going to let you go back to where you would most likely be ambushed at."
"I am just going to get my stuff. I will barely be gone for a minute-"
"If it is as quick as you say there is no harm in me coming with you." He said putting his hand on her shoulder, clearly waiting for her to teleport them to her lair.
Although he was forceful about something stupid like this, she couldn't help but appreciate his willingness to help her.
I stirred up quite the sand when I landed in Oregon's high desert. I looked around and tried to sense someone, but I came up with nothing. It could just be because they hadn't arrived yet, but I doubted that since they seemed to be able to teleport. So, distance shouldn't affect the time they would need to arrive.
It also might just be that they waited somewhere else while hiding themselves with magic. This desert was a big place. It wouldn't surprise me if I had missed her. I could just wait here for them to arrive, but I might as well take a walk and look around.
Just as I was about to walk around and search for the spawn of Trigon, a lifeforce suddenly appeared behind me. Without hesitation, I jumped up and turned around only to see a familiar sight of a person in a dark violet almost black cloak.
I could only see the lower half of her face and her eyes that were shining through the shadow that her hood had cast on her face's upper half, which should have been impossible. I had an extraordinary vision so the darkness keeping her face secret had to be magical.
Her body was covered with the long cloak, so I couldn't tell how she was built, but I still was able to recognize her as Raven. From her lifeforce, I also sensed that she was somewhat formidable. Even without counting her immense magical power that I knew she had, she had most humans beat.
She stared at me for a second before I finally got the cue and lowered myself back to the ground. She followed my movements with her eyes and waited until I finally reached the ground.
"You know, you scared the shit out of me." I said as I landed in front of her. She didn't respond and just stared at me for a moment.
"Why do you know me?" Why did she know that I knew her? ...Ah, right she was an empath. Almost forgot about that part. She was probably sensing my nostalgia. Instinctively I wanted to close my emotions off, but I was sure that wouldn't come off as exactly trustworthy.
"I had met one of your kind already." She narrowed her eyes at that.
"You mean the attack on Portland. I had sensed that Trigon's minions had been active, but I am not like them. I-"
Her tone could indeed be said to be monotone which was what I had expected, but as she talked I could hear how scared and desperate she was to explain herself to be different than her fellow demons.
"You are a child of Trigon, right? Yeah, I heard that demon's son was there at the beginning of the fight. He seemed to have betrayed two magicians that wanted to help him..."
She wasn't as grounded and collected as I remembered her to be, but that was something understandable considering the circumstances.
Her lips thinned and I could see her cloak tremble slightly. She looked at me for a few moments seemingly looking for something.
When she didn't find it she sighed out in relief before readying herself to speak out as she took a deep breath. I could see how her eyes changed slightly to be more determined as she seemed to have made up her mind. Her desperation fueled her thirst for action.
Although I wasn't as good an empath as she was, I could still clearly sense what she was feeling. If it wasn't for her sensing my emotions, inevitably creating a connection with me, I wouldn't have caught onto hers.
"I-I want to join your team. I had seen how you fought against them. Trigon will not stop until he got what he wants... and I want to help to fight him." Her voice reflected her feelings of determination, but also her fragile hope.
After she had witnessed how we had received her plea in the Watchtower, it was to be expected that she wasn't too hopeful in joining the Justice League, but even with that in mind, I could tell that when she said that she wanted to fight her father, it wasn't said willy-nilly.
Her mind was set on it. She wanted to turn her fate around and I had the feeling even If I refused her that she would create her own team that could help her fight against her father. Considering that she was meant to be a member of the Teen Titans, I wouldn't be surprised if she would be the one to create the team.
"I am afraid, this will be impossible." I responded. Her jaw clenched when she heard this. Before she could respond or vanish on the spot I continued, "The other members of the League won't trust you, especially with the magical expert on the team advocating in straight out banishing you."
The more I spoke the paler she got, hearing this was slowly extinguishing her last bit of hope that she had held onto. It probably had only survived this long because I had invited her here in the first place, but this was something she needed to hear, to know what might happen if she decided to press the issue with the Justice League.
"Although they might be willing to help you with a bit convincing, it would destroy the team dynamic and they wouldn't put their all in it, especially since they don't know you and the history they have with Trigon's son..."
"His son doesn't have anything to do with me!" Her voice was shaky but it wasn't just desperation, she was angry about being judged by the actions of her siblings.
"A family member of our magic expert was attacked by his enemies. The Justice League... They aren't eager for a conversation either with that bias and their attitude it will be hard to gain their trust if you are able to gain their trust at all.
What I feel like they would do is to invite you to have you around and observe you as a lab rat. Zatara might even try to lock you straight away.
You would be under constant observation and I don't think that is what you had in mind when you came to us for our help. Of course, you can still give it a shot and ask them for help in another place that isn't our headquarters and when they aren't as exhausted as they were just now, but currently I don't think you have a great chance at convincing them."
She trembled as she heard what I had to say. I wasn't lying to her and I think she could tell that her chances for help with the League were almost nil.
I also didn't see her as a great fit in the Justice League, to begin with, especially with Zatara and Batman around. These two would be constantly suspicious of her and since she was an empath sensing their emotions, it might run her thin. I wasn't sure if they could get along well. The others I wasn't so sure, it could go either way, but she would most likely still feel like an outsider.
Considering that her powers reacted to her emotions, it wouldn't be wise to expose her to this kind of stress and distrust.
Her eyes were looking at the ground as she thought. I let her be and waited for her to come to a conclusion on her own. I was caught off guard when her eyes suddenly shot to me.
Her slight trembling had stopped as she came to realize that the Justice League most likely won't help her, but instead of despairing further, it was replaced with realization. I was still standing before her after all.
"Why did you want to meet me here then?" Her gaze bore into me as her cloak was waving slightly despite no breeze around us.
"Of course, to accept your call for help." I answered nonchalantly.
"Why are you willing to help me? They destroyed Your city. You were one of the ones that fought them." I grimaced slightly at that, remembering something that I rather didn't, but it was obvious why she had brought it up. In her eyes, I should be the one that should trust her the least, but I didn't.
It was easy for me since I had knowledge of what she could be. So with my knowledge and my gut feeling, I couldn't help but want to help her. I certainly couldn't abandon her and let her fend for her own.
"...You experienced loss...so why...?" Her words grew quiet in the end. I looked at her for a moment as I tried to gather myself again.
I had only glanced over her appearance, only confirming that I was seeing her in real life and not on my monitor. Too occupied with our conversation and how she reacted that I hadn't noticed her state until now.
There was a hint of a scratch on her right cheek and the bottom of her cloak was dirty like she had dragged them through the mud. There were dirty stains all over on her cloak. She wasn't smelling great either. Not to mention that her presence was more akin to someone that would be deeply exhausted instead of the strong woman she tried to portray.
Now that I noticed these signs even the exhaustion in her eyes was apparent, even though not an ounce of it was leaking through into her emotions. I suspected that she was just used to keep going, to keep pushing and ignoring her limits that it didn't mirror itself in her emotions anymore.
I started to speak as I gazed into her eyes, "I usually go with my guts and you gave me a good feeling, so I decided to accept your call for help."
Her eyes widened before she asked in a disbelieving tone, "You followed your guts?"
"Yeah?"
"That's it?"
"Yep." Although it wasn't the entire truth, I wasn't about to reveal that I knew this universe because of some cartoon I had watched in my past life. Not even bothering about whether she would believe me or not, it was sensitive information that might ruin the trust with a few people that I had built up, causing them to question any and every interaction with me.
Besides following my gut was the main contributor in deciding to help her. Although I knew that she might become a hero, there was still the possibility of this version of her turning evil or something.
Her head lowered at my response as she looked at the ground before she suddenly started giggling slightly. She wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes. I didn't know if they were tears of laughter or because she was relieved, but I did know that her laughter released a lot of tension in her body.
She then reached to the sides of her hood and lifted it off, revealing her face and the red crystal on her forehead.
"Ah, I am sorry... I haven't introduced myself yet. I am called Raven."
I smiled at the sight and approached her to shake her hand, "Nice to meet you. I go with Shallot or Nathan. Either is fine." I grimaced slightly after standing right in front of her, "You look like you need a good night's sleep, and not to be rude, but you need a shower as well. If you want to you can rest at my place for now. It's not far from here."
Her expression froze before she sniffed at her cloak only to wrinkle her nose in disgust. She began to refuse, but she stopped herself before reluctantly accepting my offer.
"Thank you." She mumbled before we rose from the ground.
I took the lead before I noticed that her lifeforce was suddenly plummeting to the ground. I looked back and quickly reached her. I gently caught her and checked on her, finding her unconscious.
Seemed like she needed the rest more than I thought. With that in mind, I headed to my place. A frown found itself on my face when I thought about her situation. I probably shouldn't change her clothes right? But she smells really bad and her cloak would ruin my bed...
...
She woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. She could feel the sunshine on her face and she couldn't help but relax for a moment. But since Raven wasn't tired anymore and she wanted to know where she ended up in she started to sit up.
She reached behind her to her shoulders and found that her hood wasn't there. She looked around and saw it folded on the dresser next to a towel, shampoo, and some other clothes.
She looked down at what she was wearing, a simple shirt and shorts that were slightly too big for her. Her previous clothes that she had taken off a random clothing line were nowhere to be found. She didn't feel the loss since they were already falling apart and she had wanted to replace them long ago.
Raven then remembered meeting Portland's superhero and their conversation as well as the last piece of conversation about her taking a shower...
She seemed to have been roughly clean but it was nowhere near enough for her. She was still smelt badly, not to mention her hair was all oily. She got up and took the towel, shampoo, and the other clothes off the dresser and peeked into a door on the side, which luckily revealed a shower.
After cleaning herself she put on the clothes that Shallot had to have bought for her. It was a simple set with jeans, a T-Shirt, and some underwear that she was grateful for. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of such an intimidating man entering a store to buy some women's clothes.
In the next moment, her face flushed slightly, remembering that someone had to have cleaned her and it should be obvious who had done it...
When they had met before she fell unconscious she was initially incredibly cautious of him. His body was just radiating danger and his gaze was intense. If she had sensed any hostility she would have bolted straight away.
However, instead of showing any hostility, he stayed mellow. He even seemed a bit excited and happy to see her which had confused her initially. She winced slightly when she thought about how she had reminded him about his loss. She hated that feeling of sadness and guilt.
After stepping out of the shower, now refreshed and inside new clothes, she felt like she had just been reborn. She took her cleaned cloak and draped it across her shoulder before making her way downstairs where she could hear someone snoring.
She entered what seemed to be the living room and found the man half-naked lying across the couch. He was almost falling out of it due to his lying position.
She sensed his mind and found him to be deeply in sleep like he had fallen asleep only an hour ago. He seemed unconcerned of any potential danger she could have posed, which reminded her that he had taken her in because of his gut feeling.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one hand that was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but on the other, it seemed to be working for him...
Her gaze wandered across his body, noting the difference in physique compared to the older people of Azarath. The deep breath Shallot suddenly took made her think that she had woken him up, but when she observed his face and sensed no fluctuation in his mind he was still asleep, smacking his lips for good measure.
Her hand had subconsciously risen and was tracing the contour of his muscles. She noted the numerous scars all over his body, strangely adding to the attractiveness of his figure. It was clear that he was an experienced fighter. There were even some new wounds that were clearly not older than a few hours.
It was almost hypnotizing how his chest rose and sank with each breath like the high and low tide. As she continued to look at him, it seemed like he was growing stronger in his sleep while his wounds healed at a visible rate. She felt relieved seeing the signs of strength that his body seemed to hide. He would be able to go against her father, she thought.
She froze up as she realized what she was doing and retracted her hand that was touching his chest. She reminded herself that she shouldn't trust him this easily. One thing that her escape had taught her was to be on her toes. One couldn't judge one character only after a day of meeting them.
She had to be cautious to draw conclusions too early even though she desperately sought a place where she could stop moving, where she could relax knowing that she was safe, where she would find her new home.
Still, Nathan was a hero that had fought back her kind and readily accepted to help her despite his experience.
Her line of thought was interrupted when her stomach suddenly started to growl loudly, it was so loud that she thought that it had to have woken him up for sure, but when she looked at his sleeping figure, she couldn't help but feel glad that he hadn't witnessed it.
She turned around and saw two gigantic fridges in the open kitchen. For just a moment she wondered who needed this much room for food. Did he live with someone else? She quietly opened both fridges and found both to carry similar foods.
It's fine, right? He didn't say that she could just serve herself, but he wouldn't mind, right? She would just replace it at a later date. She wasn't one to just rummage around someone's fridge, but she had to eat something. She had gone without eating for days now and even with that restful sleep, she still felt weak.
With that in mind, she searched for something that she could eat. There were several Tupperware with food inside. There were only three types of meals. She took one out at random since they seemed to be pretty much all rice, vegetables, and some sort of meat.
She took one out and opened a microwave and placed it inside before wondering how to use it. It wasn't a standard one as it was several times bigger than the one she had previously used, but just as she was about to press any button at random, a hand covered in a white glove entered her field of view and pressed two buttons causing it to turn on and rotate in a familiar manner.
"Look at that. The sleeping beauty is finally awake." Raven stepped back, internally shocked at the sudden appearance of the red-haired woman. She felt embarrassed how she had been too occupied thinking about eating that she didn't notice this woman sneaking up on her.
Raven looked at her and found that the armor this woman had worn, had served its purpose. Chunks of her armor were broken and even burned off. She had bruises and cuts all over her exposed skin and her hair was a mess like someone had purposely ruined it and then sloppily fixed it again.
Surprisingly it didn't reduce the dignity with which the woman moved as she moved towards the sink to wash her hands. After turning off the tap, she turned around and dried her hands as she looked at the defensive Raven.
"I am Maxima, Queen of Almerac." Maxima said as she raised an eyebrow at the young woman in front of her.
"Nice to meet you..." Raven's monotone voice sounded out.
"It would be a lie to say the same, after all, I had to clean you like I was a servant woman. Well, at least he had called me to visit because of you, so... you are forgiven."
She had assumed that Nathan had cleaned her, but it seemed like he had called upon this woman to do it. Somehow she felt more irked about the fact that a stranger had handled her, even though Nathan was a stranger too, he at least was a public acknowledged hero, which couldn't be said about this woman.
"...Thanks, your highness." Maxima looked smug about Raven's sarcastic thanks, but Raven wasn't to correct her misinterpretation. Of course, she wasn't completely dishonest in her thanks, she wouldn't completely disregard that she had taken care of her.
The women's clothes that she wore, had to be from her then as well or rather bought by her. She doubted that this dignified woman was the one that wore the clothes she had on right now. Not because of the cute motive on the pants, but because they seemed to be for a slightly shorter woman.
The two looked at each other in silence until the microwave dinged. Suddenly Maxima turned around opened it and handed it to Raven.
"Here you go. Eat up and rest well. Although I am not a nurse, I can see when a warrior had been pushed far beyond their limits."
Raven accepted the meal wordlessly, wondering how she could be described to be a warrior, but she wouldn't argue with someone clearly trying to compliment her.
"Thank you." This time being more genuine with her expression of gratitude.
"Hey, you." The deep voice behind her suddenly sounded out making her flinch while letting her darkness coil around her hands ready to be released immediately if necessary as she turned her body to look behind her.
"You're finally awake." Shallot said completely ignoring the younger woman with her powers ready to fire at him and the other leaning against the counter.
He pulled out several other Tupperwares while a cupboard shelf opened up by itself letting a knife and fork float out of it and towards Raven.
"Here you go. If you need something else just take what you want." Nathan invitingly said to her. However, her focus was somewhere else. Telekinetic power.
It wasn't well known that the hero possessed this power, at least she hadn't read about it, maybe because it was paling against his other outrageous powers. Telekinetic power meant that he was most likely possessing other psychic powers as well, which meant that her brashly reading his emotions was more than just rude.
She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, decided against shutting off her empathic powers. She had relied on them to detect any malice towards her, and since Nathan hadn't said anything, she would continue using them even though it was somewhat cumbersome to have it constantly active while directing it at the people around her. Maybe if this place proved itself safe, she would relax even more.
She felt embarrassed and guilty at how suspicious she was at someone that had readily accepted to help her, but she couldn't bring herself to completely trust him. The least thing she could do was get to know him first.
Raven composed herself again before looking at the young hero who seemed very nonchalant about having a demon's daughter freely walking around in his house, "Are you- how old are you?" Feeling awkward about her random question.
He seemed surprised by the question before looking blankly ahead as if he had to calculate his birthday, "I should be 18 already."
"Should...? I am 17."
"Cool?" He put one of his Tupperware into the microwave as he responded with a questioning tone.
"I hope Maxima wasn't too in your face for having to clean you."
"Urgh-" Raven glanced at Maxima who made a weird noise as if she had just been kicked in the chest. Maxima then looked at her anxiously. Raven could feel her worry radiating from her.
"No. Your girlfriend had only been nice to me." She said not wanting to incite a conflict between the two, however, it seemed like she set off something else as she looked at the expression of the two people in front of her.
Maxima felt hopeful, excited, and possessive as soon as she cast her eyes towards Nathan, who looked somewhat uncomfortable. Nathan looked at Raven confused while feeling something akin to helplessness.
"Hubby!" Maxima shouted as she jumped towards Nathan with open arms.
"Nope." He said while raising his hand, conjuring up a psychic wall in front of Maxima letting her slam into it midair.
"She is not my girlfriend." He sighed before moving towards the couch on which he had slept. Maxima looked at him pouting slightly as she slid back to the ground. She promptly stood up and stomped on the ground, denting the ground in the process before she pressed something on her wrist.
"Hmph!"
A portal suddenly appeared behind her and she disappeared into it. It seemed like Raven ran right into that one, probably inciting an old argument. She had sensed that the two liked each other, but it was clear that Maxima was the one that felt more strongly towards Nathan.
She realized that it might be unreciprocated love or at least something similar. She understood why Nathan might not want to be with her. Maxima's first reaction to being mistaken as his girlfriend was somewhat off-putting with her feelings of possessiveness like he was a price to be won over. Not to mention that Maxima came on rather strong because of something a third-party said.
She followed him to the couch while uttering her apology. She had just blurted it out without thinking too much of it. She had just assumed that Maxima had lived here as his girlfriend.
He waved her off nonchalantly telling her not to worry about her. He only reminded her not to mention it again otherwise the act would repeat itself, which she took to heart. She awkwardly sat down on a chair next to the sofa.
They sat in silence as Nathan watched a show about a boy with a black hat wanting to be a pirate king or something. After a while, she remembered something, "When I came to the desert I hadn't brought anything with me. There are somethings that I had left behind at a valley-"
Before she announced that she would be gone to retrieve her stuff, Nathan blurred away before returning with his blue armor on. She looked at the armor revealing his upper arms, wondering if it weren't better to have his entire arms covered in armor, but she couldn't really talk since she didn't wear any armor at all.
"Alright, I am coming with you."
"I am just going to retrieve some of my stuff. You don't have to-" He cut her off before she could finish her sentence while tightening his vambrace.
"You are not going alone into a valley. Since you are now under my protection, I am not going to let you go back to where you would most likely be ambushed at."
"I am just going to get my stuff. I will barely be gone for a minute-"
"If it is as quick as you say there is no harm in me coming with you." He said putting his hand on her shoulder, clearly waiting for her to teleport them to her lair.
Although he was forceful about something stupid like this, she couldn't help but appreciate his willingness to help her.
